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Category Archives: Points Summer Book Club

Were you burrowing next to a fireplace during Monday and Tuesday’s snow days, curled up with a good book? Please share: It’s time to start planning for the 2015 Points Summer Book Club, and I could use your help.

What were the most thought-provoking books you read in the last year?

Are there any books coming out in the next couple of months you are particularly excited to read?

Anything else that should be on my radar for this summer?

We look for books that will foster a rich discussion, in line with Points’ mission to help readers “think sharp,” and challenge conventional wisdom. I usually pick nonfiction books (like last year’s pick, Going Clear, by Lawrence Wright), but that’s not a requirement. (We had great success with 2013′s fiction pick, Ben Fountain’s Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk.) Bonus points for a Texas connection.

This post is part of the Points Summer Book Club discussion of Lawrence Wright’s “Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief.”

Today, we wind up our weeklong discussion of “Going Clear,” and it’s a great opportunity to take a step back and look at the book as a whole, rather than drilling down deep into one specific topic.Today’s discussion starter:

Five or 10 years from now, what are the details from this book that are most likely to stick with you? How has it changed your thinking?

This post is part of the Points Summer Book Club discussion of Lawrence Wright’s “Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief.”

We’ve spent the week so far discussing the revelations about Scientology in “Going Clear” — its practices and beliefs, whether the church is rightly considered a religion. But some of the most interesting conversations so far have gone beyond that in scope, touching on the foibles of human nature and the nature of religion.

Today, I’d like to travel further along that path to talk more about the nature of religion.

I should admit here that this was one part of Scientology I didn’t expect. For all our talk yesterday about the possibly selfish reasons celebrities have been so drawn to Scientology, I was struck in my reading by the central role salvation played in keeping people in the fold: Wright wrote that most of the people who fled the religion were conflicted — so ready to leave but truly worried about their salvation.

Another section of the book that made a similar impression on me was Wright’s interview of actress Anne Archer and her husband Terry Jastrow, both longtime Scientologists:

[Jastrow] said that only Scientology could help mankind right itself. “What else is there that we can hang our hopes on?”

“That’s improving civilization,” Archer added.

“Is there some other religion on the horizon that’s going to help mankind?” Jastrow asked. “Just tell me where. If not Scientology, where?”

They’re in Scientology not just for personal salvation, but for the religion’s supposed ability to help all of mankind (which, despite Jastrow exhortations, is not unique to Scientology; to the contrary).

That takes us to today’s topic for discussion:

What is it about religion that so attracts us?
And if that attraction is near-universal, why are members of
individual faiths so sure theirs is the clearest path to salvation?

This post is part of the Points Summer Book Club discussion of Lawrence Wright’s “Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief.”

When Tom Cruise is an active and outspoken member of your church, your church is going to make headlines. There’s no way around it.

Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard may not have predicted Tom Cruise, per se, but he certainly anticipated the Tom Cruise effect. As Wright writes in “Going Clear”:

When the Church of Scientology was officially founded in Los Angeles, in February 1954, by several of Hubbard’s devoted followers, there was already a history of religious celebrities and celebrity religions. The cultivation of famous people — or people who aspired to be famous — was a feature of Hubbard’s grand design. He foresaw that the best way of promoting Scientology as a ladder to enlightenment was to court celebrities.

Since then, Americans’ fascination with fame has only grown — and if celebrities can help sell shampoo or cars, why not religion?

Only, religion isn’t shampoo or cars. The stakes for being a celebrity spokesperson for a religion are much, much higher. The risks in attaching one’s career to a new-to-the-scene religion like Scientology would seem great, too.

That leads to today’s topic of the day:

We know why Scientology is so drawn to celebrities,
but why are celebrities so drawn to Scientology?
(And how does that affect the religion?)

Separately, I also wanted to remind everyone that author Lawrence Wright will be in town to help us wrap up our discussion of “Going Clear” this Sunday. I hope you can join us for a Q&A and book signing — but you must RSVP:

What: Forum and book signing with Lawrence WrightWhen: 2-4 p.m. SundayWhere: Davidson Auditorium, Naveen Jindal School of Management, University of Texas at Dallas, 800 W. Campbell Road, RichardsonRSVP: The event is free, but seating is limited. Register at www.dallasnews.com/psbcMore info: Call 214-977-8152, or email rwatkins@dallasnews.com

Wright will also be at next weekend’s Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference in Grapevine. For details on attending those events, click here.

And if you’d like to join in a book club discussion in person, consider joining a discussion this week at a Dallas Public library branch:

This post is part of the Points Summer Book Club discussion of Lawrence Wright’s “Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief.”

On the surface, there is much about Scientology that I might find welcoming personally — the “scientific” approach, a focus on self-improvement, appeals to logic and rationality. But any scratch below that surface, and the allure disintegrates.

Put aside the fantastical original story of the tyrannical alien leader Xenu who lured his foes in with a phoney tax investigation, only to freeze their bodies, ship them to Earth, load them into volcanoes and blow them to bits — before they reformed and inhabited modern-day humans, which Scientologists were then tasked with identifying and eliminating so they could save humanity from self-destruction.

But there’s the hostility to psychiatry, the buy-your-salvation auditing classes, the memories from previous lives, the forced disconnection from family members.

Beyond that are the horrifying tales in Wright’s book of the church’s justice system, of wanton punishment and physical abuse. One of the stories that left the deepest impressions on me was that of Spanky Taylor’s time in the Rehabilitation Project Force, where she was separated from her infant daughter:

Her new baby daughter, Vanessa, was taken away and placed in the Child Care Org, the Scientology nursery. There were 30 infants crammed into a small apartment with wall-to-wall cribs, with one nanny for every 12 children. It was dark and dank, and the children were rarely, if ever, taken outside.

On top of that, she was pregnant — and received no maternal care, no reduction in the physical labor, no food beyond the slop she ate from a bucket like everyone else. She eventually escaped, with help from John Travolta’s assistant and her whooping-cough-addled infant in her arms. (And when her next baby was born — at full term — he weighed only 3 pounds.) That is depraved “punishment.”

From that, I offer today’s topic for discussion:

Going deeper into Scientology’s beliefs and practices,
what made the biggest impression on you?

Today’s Day 2 of our online discussion of Lawrence Wright’s “Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief.”

Instead of splitting up our discussion chapter by chapter, I’ve given each day a theme. Today, we’re talking about whether Scientology should be considered a religion.

Wright goes to great lengths to share painstaking detail about the origin of Scientology and the life of L. Ron Hubbard. That Scientology is so new on the scene that we’re able to get such a well-reported account of its origins only raises more questions about its “legitimacy.” But the question of what makes a religion a religion is one of the central themes of Wright’s book — the perfect starting point for our discussion.

Today’s question: What makes a religion a religion, and should Scientology qualify?

Don’t forget that Wright will be our guest at a special Q&A and book signing. There’s still time to sign up:

What: Forum and book signing with Lawrence WrightWhen: 2-4 p.m. Sunday, July 20Where: Davidson Auditorium, Naveen Jindal School of Management, University of Texas at Dallas, 800 W. Campbell Road, RichardsonRSVP: The event is free, but seating is limited. Register at www.dallasnews.com/psbc.More info: Call 214-977-8152, or email rwatkins@dallasnews.com.

Wright will also be at next weekend’s Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference in Grapevine. For details on attending those events, click here.

Every day this week, I’ll post a question as a discussion starter. Then it’s up to you to carry on the conversation in the comments section. This year, we’re upping the ante with some prizes: Starting tomorrow, I’ll be giving away copies of some of Wright’s other books to award the most insightful commenter of the day.

Many of us are busy reading this year’s Points Summer Book Club selection, “Going Clear,” by Lawrence Wright. If you haven’t started, you have plenty of time before our weeklong discussion of the book begins July 13.

In the meantime, I wanted to let you know about some other ways to get involved.

First, we’ve finalized plans for Wright’s live Q&A with our readers:

What: Forum and book signing with Lawrence WrightWhen: 2-4 p.m. Sunday, July 20Where: Davidson Auditorium, Naveen Jindal School of Management, University of Texas at Dallas, 800 W. Campbell Road, RichardsonRSVP: The event is free, but seating is limited. Register at www.dallasnews.com/psbc.More info: Call 214-977-8152, or email rwatkins@dallasnews.com.

There will be two other interesting chances to see Lawrence Wright in North Texas that weekend, as part of the Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference, a Points Summer a book Club partner. Although the conference is officially sold out, you can still buy tickets to Wright’s keynote speech that Saturday night.

What: Who Do band, a “literary” blues band that includes Wright, Ricardo Ainslee and NPR’s John BurnettWhen: Friday, July 18. Buffet dinner opens at 5:45 p.m. Program begins at 6:45, with keynote address by David Quammen. Who Do’s performance starts at 9.Where: Austin Ranch, behind Hilton DFW Lakes Executive Conference CenterRegister: $60, www.themayborn.com/2014-conference-schedule and click “register”

In this Sunday’s Points section (online today), you can read an excerpt from the first chapter.

As I write in Points this Sunday, before Tom Cruise, before John Travolta, before the intriguing headlines and intimidating lawsuits, there was just science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard in a dentist’s office with a vision. That vision eventually became Scientology. And “Going Clear” masterfully charts the religion from its inception, from the bizarre — rebellious alien thetans banished to Earth, dropped in to volcanoes and blown to smithereens, only to confusedly inhabit human bodies today — to the shocking — beatings, forced divorces, work camps.

Hope that’s enough to whet your appetite. Now’s the time to start reading so you can debate the book with us. Here are the details on the book club events:

July 20: Attend a special forum with author Lawrence Wright. He’ll share his thoughts, take your questions and sign books. Have questions? Email rwatkins@dallasnews.com or call 214-977-8152.

I’m also looking for give people to serve as blog ambassadors for our week of book club discussion. Here’s your chance to blog for The Dallas Morning News!

Interested? Email me (points@dallasnews.com) 250 words or so, telling me a little bit about yourself and why blogging on this book is important to you. What would you bring to this debate that’s special?

Don’t be shy: We’re not looking for experts on religion or literature, just people with a passion for debate and an interest in the topic.

The deadline is Wednesday, June 11, and winners will be notified by the end of the week. They’ll each receive a free copy of the book.

As cold as it’s been this week, you can forgive me for letting my thoughts stray toward summer. It’s time to start planning for the 2014 Points Summer Book Club, and I could use your help.

What were the most thought-provoking books you read in the last year?

Are there any books coming out in the next couple of months you are particularly excited to read?

Anything else that should be on my radar for this summer?

We look for books that will foster a rich discussion, in line with Points’ mission to help readers “think sharp,” and challenge conventional wisdom. I’ve generally chosen nonfiction books, although that’s not a requirement. (We had great success with last year’s fiction pick, Ben Fountain’s Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk.) Bonus points for a Texas connection.

I’ve been gathering nominations from co-workers and book club participants from years past. Here’s what I’ve received so far. Let me know: What would you choose from this list? What am I missing? Email me at nstockdale@dallasnews.com and let me know what you think.

All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood, by Jennifer Senior

After the Music Stopped: The Financial Crisis, the Response, and the Work Ahead, by Alan S. Blinder

The American Health Care Paradox, by Elizabeth Bradley, Lauren Taylor and Harvey Finberg

At Night We Walk in Circles: A Novel, by Daniel Alarcón

Average Is Over: Powering American Beyond the Age of the Great Stagnation, by Tyler Cowan

Bad Religion: How we Became a Nation of Heretics, by Ross Douthat

The Big Truck That Went By: How the World Came to Save Haiti and Left Behind a Disaster, by Jonathan M. Katz

Brainwashed: The Seductive Appeal of Mindless Neuroscience, by Sally Satel and Scott Lilienfeld

Today’s the last day of the 2013 Points Summer Book Club, where we are discussing Ben Fountain’s Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk.

Last night’s forum with Fountain was great; I know a lot of the people who have read and commented on this blog were in the crowd last night. Many of the themes from our conversation on this blog carried over to the discussion last night — and now we can carry it on back here. Enjoy!

Ben Fountain speaks to a packed house at the Points Summer Book Club forum at the Dallas Arboretum.

For today’s discussion, let’s start with a question about the book’s title: What is Billy Lynn’s long halftime walk?

It seems there wouldn’t be a Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk without the Dallas Cowboys, and the links between football and war are a constant fixture in the novel.

Tom Huang has already mentioned one of my favorites in the discussion below, when Billy and Sgt. Dime enter Cowboys owner Norm Oglesby’s super-secret office to negotiate film rights. Someone greets them with: “Gentlemen! Welcome to the war room!” That’s an absurd way to welcome a soldier, of course. But I also read in that an element of Kubrick-fueled foreshadowing — the fruitless negotiations, and fear of events hurtling beyond your control, screamed Dr. Strangelove.

Many of the other sports-war references are more overt, like when Billy describes the game of football:

It seemed that football must be made to be productive and useful, a net-plus benefit for all mankind, hence the motivational yawping about teamwork, sacrifice, discipline, and other modern virtues, the basic thrust of which boiled down to shut up and do as you’re told. So despite the terrific violence inherent in the game a weird passivity seeped into your mind.

Today’s question: What links did you see between football and war? What is their significance?

This post is part of the Points Summer Book Club discussion of Ben Fountain’s “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk.”

Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk is rife with references to class and social standing, from the Bravos’ individual motivations for joining this volunteer army and the jobs that await them when they get out, to the billionaires they make small talk with at Texas Stadium, to the contract negotiations over a film about the battle.

Take, for example, Ben Fountain’s description of the people in Cowboys owner Norm Oglesby’s suite at Texas Stadium:

The men look wise, relaxed, in great shape for middle age, possessed of the sure and liquid style that comes of long success. They have good hair. They’ve wrinkled well. The women are slim and toned and internationally tan, their makeup sealed with a Teflon coat of cool. Billy tries to imagine the formula of birth, money, schools, and social savvy that lifts people to such a rarefied station in life.

What’s the significance of class and social status in this book? And what does that say about the book’s setting, Dallas? Do you think the portrayal — of social stratification in general and Dallas in specific — was fair?

Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk is chock full of Americans who profess to “support the troops” in one way or another.

Some are sweet, like the woman who carefully draped a Snuggie to help a slumbering soldier fend off the cold (“You tell him it’s my gift to him,” she says.)

Others are less so, like the oil man so proud of his contribution:

“It’s a personal thing with me, boosting domestic production, lessening our dependence on foreign oil. I figure the better I do my job, the sooner we can bring you young men home. … I’m just trying to do my part.”

On the face of it, the oil man seems much more self-serving. But deep down, I suspect that both of those characters, like nearly all the civilians depicted in this novel, are showing their support as much for themselves as they are for the troops. Americans living through modern wars must give so little of themselves; there is virtually no shared sacrifice, so we indulge ourselves with mundane niceties as a way to not feel totally disconnected.Just trying to do our part.

I found it easy to question the motives of those professing to support the troops — but much more difficult to follow that up with what they should be doing instead.

And Ben Fountain underscored an even stickier dilemma in one of the comments he left yesterday:

For a long time I’ve been pretty strongly convinced that we could “support the troops” while at the same time criticizing the war–the reasons we got into it, the conduct of it, whether and when we should get out. Then I was on a panel recently with Karl Marlantes, author of the very fine novel “Matterhorn,” based on his experience in Vietnam. Karl is a decorated Marine veteran, a first-rate writer, and a solid person in pretty much every way I can think of. On that panel he commented that when civilians at home criticize America’s involvement in war, that’s the equivalent of giving encouragement to the enemy, with corresponding harmful effects on our own troops. I have to say, that brought me up short. When somebody of Karl’s thoughtfulness and experience makes a comment like that, we need to listen. Having said that, I still think we’re doing ourselves and our country a disservice by not thinking critically about war even when we’re engaged in one, but I keep trying to get my head around Karl’s comment, trying to reconcile my opinion with his. Maybe they can’t be reconciled.

So I’ll throw the question out to you:

What does it really mean for Americans to support the troops? What should it mean?

Instead of splitting up our discussion chapter by chapter, I’ve given each day a theme. Today, we’re talking about selling the war.

The protagonist of the book, Billy Lynn, and his Bravo Squad brethren are on a two-week victory tour through the U.S. after winning the hard-fought and short-lived Battle of Al-Ansakar Canal in the Iraq war. They make countless stops — DC, Denver, Phoenix, Dallas — to help Americans across the country feel better about the war effort. But we also see a different side of the soldiers — the swearing, drinking, carousing and fighting. And so the question to get our conversation started today is:

Are the Bravos effective spokesmen in an effort to sell the war?

Please leave your thoughts in the embedded window below; the conversation will be continuously updated all day — and I’ll be back tomorrow morning with a new conversation starter.

This is a special book club for us this year, for a couple of reasons: It’s our first to feature a Dallas author — we’ll be discussing Ben Fountain’s “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk.” And it’s only the second time in the book club’s history that we’ve chosen a novel. (In 2007, we discussed another war novel, the classic “All Quiet on the Western Front,” by Erich Maria Remarque.)

There’s one other change this year: All the discussion of the book will be in one place, rather than split among separate blog posts. You’ll find the conversation in the window embedded below. (And if you’d like to see it full-screen, click here.)

What’s not changing: Instead of discussing the book chapter by chapter, we’ll loosely structure the conversation around themes. Here’s the schedule:

We are just days away from the start of the seventh annual Points Summer Book Club. We’ll be discussing the novel “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk,” by Dallas’ own Ben Fountain.

For those of you who have participated in past book clubs, things will look a little different this year. All of our conversation will be located in one place (the window you see below), rather than being spread out over different blog posts. The discussion will get going in earnest on Monday. All you need to do is leave a comment in the embedded window!

And don’t forget that we have a forum with the author planned for next Thursday, Aug. 15, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Arboretum. Registration closes Monday, so you only have a couple of days left to RSVP, at dallasnews.com/benfountain. Fountain will share some thoughts about the book and then open the floor for questions. We’ll finish up by having him sign books. (Need another copy? We’ll have some on sale at the event.)

Last week, we announced our pick for the seventh annual Points Summer Book Club. I’d like to use this post to draw attention to the pick and reiterate our invite for folks across North Texas – and beyond – to join us in reading Dallas author Ben Fountain’s Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk.

I just downloaded the book to my Kindle and am about to dive into it. The book has gotten rave reviews, and not just from the wide variety of my friends who have beaten me to the punch and already read it. It won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction this year and was a finalist for the National Book Award.

Here’s the editorial we published about the Points Summer Book Club that we published on the Fourth of July.

So here are some key dates to mark in your calendar:

A special Point Person Q&A with Ben Fountain on the cover of the Points commentary section in The Dallas Morning News a week from this Sunday (July 21).

A blog discussion of the book beginning Monday, Aug. 12 and extending through the whole week. We’ll have designated discussion leaders sharing their take on various aspects of the book and inviting you to share your reflections.

A special forum with Ben Fountain at the Dallas Arboretum, sponsored by The Dallas Morning News, at which the author will talk about writing the book, take questions and sign books, the evening of Thursday, Aug. 15. To reserve a seat, email Rachel Watkins at rwatkins@dallasnews.com or call 214-977-8152 contact

Five days and 30 blog posts later, our book club is coming to a close. Thanks to everyone who joined in the discussion. And I hope to see you all at our Q&A with author Steve Coll tomorrow (2 to 4 p.m. at the Omni Hotel in downtown Dallas; email me at nstockdale@dallasnews.com if you’d still like to come but didn’t RSVP in time).

As we wrap up the conversation, I wanted to give everyone one last opportunity to share their thoughts on the book — anything you haven’t had a chance to discuss yet: questions for Coll’s talk tomorrow, the resource curse, BP’s oil spill, even Lee Raymond’s love for popcorn in his milk. Here’s your chance.

Private Empire is written with such an even hand that its conclusions seem to come from within rather than feeling imposed from without. It’s a long book and requires a serious commitment, but it’s hard to see what could have been omitted.

ExxonMobil’s story is itself long, and also complicated, and Coll’s account gives us a big-picture insight into the workings of a mega-corporation that is also a reflection of our times. With the world-wide impact of Western civilization and its intertwined ideals of democracy and capitalism comes the reality that business trumps politics and markets efface national boundaries. I suspect that it has ever been thus, but ExxonMobil in our time seems to have realized the full potential of the free-market vision.

Strict adherence to the letter of the law and insistence on the sanctity of contracts position ExxonMobil as today’s model of the successful corporation: don’t break the law but do all you legally can to enhance the profit line for your company’s future security and your shareholders’ more immediate benefit.

It should come as no surprise that given its power and influence, there’s plenty to disturb us about ExxonMobil, but as Private Empire tells it, there’s much more to the story than that. I think it’s important to know the whole story (or as much of it as I’m ever likely to know), and I’m trusting Coll to have gotten it right. The kind of knowledge he gives us is necessarily unsettling, and it never automatically translates to power in the direct sense. But being informed always bears fruit in some way. I’m grateful to Coll and others like him for investing themselves with integrity in issues of this kind.

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